Thierry Henry today backed fan protests against Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke, as it emerged he has teamed up with Spotify founder Daniel Ek to launch a takeover offer for his old club.
As first reported by The Telegraph, Henry and his former team-mates Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira are working with Swedish billionaire Ek on a sensational bid to buy Arsenal from Kroenke.
Arsenal remain adamant Kroenke has no intention of selling up after his son Josh last week insisted the club is not for sale.
Asked whether Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, which owns Arsenal, had an exit strategy following the fierce backlash to their attempt to join a European Super League, Josh Kroenke told a fans’ forum: “I am not willing to answer that question because we have no intention of selling.”
But news of Ek teaming up with Henry, Bergkamp and Vieira will put pressure on Kroenke to listen to offers, after thousands of fans protested against him at the Emirates Stadium on Friday.
In a message posted on Twitter on the same night as the protests, Ek said: “As a kid growing up, I’ve cheered for Arsenal as long as I can remember. If KSE would like to sell Arsenal I’d be happy to throw my hat in the ring.”
Forbes estimates Arsenal to be worth £2billion, with Ek’s net worth said to be in the region of £3.4bn. His company Spotify is estimated to be worth around £50bn.
Arsenal fans called for the Kroenke family to step aside as owners during angry protests before the Gunners lost 1-0 against Everton on Friday and Henry has backed their actions.
“Arsenal fans have spoken, they are not happy and I’m with them,” Henry told talkSPORT this morning. “I’m a fan, too, and I’m happy with the protests. I couldn’t go, because you can imagine, but I was happy about them.
“It’s the fans’ club, fans will always decide the future of the club and if fans want things to happen it’s on you, and they were not happy about what’s happening and rightly so. At some point, enough is enough. They did what they did with the Super League without consulting anybody, and I was like: ‘Wow’.”
Ek’s tweet on Friday night sparked excitement among the Arsenal fans, with the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust tweeting on Saturday: “Great to hear you are an Arsenal fan.
“We would love to work with you and will support any potential purchaser who will allow fans to own a real equity stake and give fans a meaningful say in how our club is run. That’s a match to take Arsenal back to the top”.
Many Arsenal fans, though, will be wary about getting too carried away with talk of takeover, given Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has regularly declared his interest in the past but has never made a concrete offer.
